I didn't realize how dependent I am upon the scale to keep me on track.
While praying, God showed me that I need to not weigh myself for awhile and to stick to what I need to do, rely on Him, eat what I know I need to eat, and trust Him to help me reach my "perfect weight". I will probably weigh once a month or so, but other than that, my doctor's scale in our master bathroom will be wearing a pillow case hiding the numbers.

An interesting thing crossed my mind...after all these years of weighing, I haven't reached my goal weight, and it has often discouraged me when I weigh and things don't go quite right with that dial or balance slide on my scale that reveals the true numbers of what happened that day, week, or month. Oftentimes, this discouragement has pushed me over the edge to overeat. Doesn't matter if it's healthy foods or not...fact remains, I am a self-confessed overeater and God is continuing to work on my heart in this area of rebellion I have chosen most of my life.

My name is Cindy, and I AM a food addict.
My name is Cindy, and I WILL ask God to help me break the chains of darkness that have ruled in my life in this area for decades. With His help, I can do it.

I think putting the scale away is a good idea, especially for those of us that get derailed when the numbers fluctuate too much. You will know by your clothes, by how your body feels... if you are gaining or losing anyway. The numbers can be deceiving and to get hung up on that can be detrimental as you have found out.

Keep praying, keep purposing to eat what your body needs, when your body needs it.

True Pam, clothes tell the truth.
scales are depressing anyway.

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<a href="http://lilyslim.com/"><img src="http://swtc.lilyslim.com/G2dWbbw.png" width="400" height="120" border="0" alt="LilySlim Weight charts" /></a>

Oh Cindy-I'm right there with you. Sometimes life throws so many things in your path you just don't have time to plan food. I do good for a while then fall right back into old habits. I can't seem to find a new way of life when it comes to eating.

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“The hunger for love is much more difficult to remove than the hunger for bread.”
― Mother Teresa

Who here has ever eaten when hungry, eaten whatever one is hungry for, stopped eaten when no longer hungray, not limited any kinds of food, did not look at food with a label of good vs. bad, healthy vs. unhealthy and lost weight doing so?

I have. 16 years ago. I followed this mindset, and walked 2 times a week. That was all my plan contained. Well, I did pray and seek guidance on knowing my body and it's need. On seeing my body as a gift and one that deserved to be at a healthy weight. I lost 25 lbs and did not regain it until I got pregnant, and then pregnant again 16 months later. Now, 14 years later I am facing the fact that I have not lost weight again by any means I have attempted. So, I think I need to go back to what worked. I know there are foods that are better than others, and some things called food that are really just processed junk.

When I don't worry about any of that, but instead listen to what my body is telling me, I tend to fuel it up with just enough, at just the right time, and don't over fill and waste the fuel. Think of a cars gas tank. It only holds so much, and any more spills out on the ground. If you go too long without refueling it runs out of gas and it stops. Pretty simple. I don't get stressed over "blowing it" with the wrong foods, because once I stopped worrying about what I can't ever have again, or must wait until the weekend to eat, or ___________, I eat a bite or two, a chip or three, wait until I'm truly hungry, stop when I'm not then I did not gorge until I was full or overly crave anything because it was all available to choose from.

Anyway, this just got me to thinking about it all and I think it is time to shift my thinking back to that and add the walking time into a day or two to get this body moving and stretching. I will feel better if these kinks were worked out and I don't want to overdo and quit, so on I go to what did work and hopefully will again.

Pam, I'm glad that works for you.
For me, I never feel full...and have a hard time finding "full".
That would be disastrous this emotional eater. I am learning to deal with the emotions that make me eat. Oftentimes, if I am stressed out, or someone is upset with me in our family, I eat. If we're celebrating, I eat.
I am dealing with these emotions on a deeper level right now and I KNOW God is doing a work in my heart about this. I have been losing weight.

For me, what works is if I monitor what I'm eating and eliminate bread altogether, stay away from white sugar and white flour, and only eat healthy carbs. I also make sure I'm eating the right kinds of fat, like coconut oil, butter, olive oil (not so much olive oil, as I REALLY like the taste of coconut oil), avacados, etc. I also stay away from sugar and am working on getting an exercise program together again that combines cardio with weights.

It doesn't come off so easy at our age, but I am convinced it WILL come off, if we do what is right and remain patient. The enemy LOVES to derail us and get us off track. If we can focus on food, rather than Him, old screwtape has his job made in the shade.
: )

Another thing is minimizing our stress. I have noticed HUGE issues with my not being able to take the weight off when I'm under a tremendous amount of pressure, and I know my body is making too much cortisol and my adrenals get severely taxed, so I have to nourish my adrenals. When I do that, I start to drop the weight.

Stress is a HUGE issue for me as well. I wish I didn't want to eat when stressed, it would save so much added stress!!

Not feeling full, that would be difficult. When I overeat, I feel sooooo stuffed that it is hard to breathe. and the bloating takes a long time to go away. Problem is, if I eat too quickly, I can get a lot of food in me before that stuffed feeling comes on. If I slow down, have water to drink at least 10 minutes before starting, I notice the satisfied feeling instead.